Draper Header for Attachment to a Harvesting Machine

ABSTRACT

A draper header is attached to a harvesting machine by an adapter including a bottom feed draper and an upper feed roller driven by a coupling from an output of the machine rotatable about an axis parallel to the forward direction and a right angle gearbox. The feed roller is mounted at each end allowing independent up and down floating movement of the ends and there is provided a mechanical linkage using two chains and an idler shaft between the output shaft of the gear box an input shaft of the roller with a universal coupling therebetween. The gear box is located at least partly underneath the discharge opening and underneath the feed roller, rearwardly of the rear guide roller of the feed draper, rearwardly of the axis of rotation of the feed roller and underneath a feed pan which is inclined upwardly and rearwardly over the gear box.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This application is a divisional application from application Ser. No.15/642,526 filed Jul. 6 2017.

The present invention relates to a draper header arranged for mountingon a self-propelled harvesting machine and particularly to drivearrangements which provide to various components of the machine. Theheader is particularly applicable to a forage harvester but can be usedon any harvesting machine including combines.

BACKGROUND

Draper headers generally include a header frame, an elongate cutter baralong a front edge of the frame including a cutter bar beam whichcarries a plurality of knife guards for guiding reciprocating movementof a sickle knife across a front edge of the cutter bar. On the headeris also mounted a draper assembly including a first and second draperguide roller each arranged at a respective end of the draper assemblyspaced apart along the cutter bar with an axis of each roller extendingsubstantially at right angles to the cutter bar. A feed draper can beprovided forming a continuous loop of flexible material wrapped aroundrollers so as to define a front of the draper adjacent the cutter bar, arear of the draper spaced rearwardly of the cutter bar and an upper runof the draper on top of the rollers for carrying the crop rearwardly toa discharge opening of the header for feeding into a feeder house of theharvester.

The draper header of this type includes two side drapers each runningfrom an outer end guide roller at an outer end of the header to an innerend guide roller adjacent a discharge location of the header which isregistered and communicated with a feeder house of an agricultural cropharvesting machine supporting the header. There is also a central feeddraper located at the discharge location and including a front guideroller just behind the cutter bar and running to a rear guide roller atthe feeder house of the crop harvesting machine. As such, there are twoside drapers to transport the crop cut by the knife inwardly along theheader to a central discharge opening. The side drapers discharge ontothe central feed draper so as to carry the crop from the side drapersrearwardly into the feeder house for inlet into the crop harvestingmachine for processing. A rotary feed roller which typically carriesflight portions is mounted at the discharge opening of the header abovethe feed draper so as to assist in carrying bulky crop through thedischarge opening so as to be carried into the feeder house. A frontedge of the flight is presented forward of the rear end of the feeddraper and feeds the material inwardly and underneath the rotary feedmember to the inlet of the feeder house.

The draper header of this type can be used for attachment to a swathertractor for forming a swath in which case the material is carried to adischarge opening of the header and deposited therefrom onto the ground.Headers of this type can also be used for feeding a combine harvester sothat the materials are carried to an adapter member positioned at thedischarge opening of the header for carrying the materials from thedischarge opening into the feeder housing of the harvester. Yet further,headers of this type can be used for hay conditioners in which thematerial from the discharge opening is carried into crushing rolls. Itwill be appreciated, therefore, that the use of the header is notlimited to particular types of agricultural machine but can be used withany such machine in which it is necessary to cut a standing crop and totransport that crop when cut longitudinally of the header for operationthereon.

Presently, draper headers have not been purposely designed to be usedwith self-propelled forage harvesters. Adaptations have been made toheaders designed for combine harvesters to enable use on a forageharvester though these adaptations were primarily concerned with issuesincluding mounting locations, and connectors and connections forhydraulic fluid delivery to the header. For example, the company RCIEngineering LLC makes commercially available conversion bundles so as torender usable a draper header on John Deere forage harvesters such asthe 7000 series, and 7250 through 7750 series. Traditionally, theseharvesting machines have power units providing a header drive similar tothat of a combine harvester, that is coupling to the header occurs inthe longitudinal direction of the header (laterally transverse to theforward working and travel direction). Thus, modifications to mountingand hydraulics connection of the header to the harvester were enough torender the draper header operable on the forage harvester.

More recently, many forage harvesters are produced with a header drivewhich runs and couples in a direction parallel to the forwardworking/travel direction, which for example allows for easierimplementation of automatic driveshaft coupling systems. However, it isnow more difficult to adapt a draper header designed for a combineharvester for use with a forage harvester because the primary mechanicalpower input to headers of this type is parallel to the length of theheader, that is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the header.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a harvestingheader for attachment to a self-propelled harvesting machine;

where the harvesting machine has a feed opening at a forward end and adrive shaft at or adjacent the feed opening for transmitting power tothe harvesting header, the drive shaft extending in a plane generallyparallel to a forward travel direction of the harvesting machine andincluding an output coupling member at a forward end thereof;

the harvesting header being arranged for cutting and transporting astanding crop and comprising:

a header frame;

an elongate cutter connected to the frame at a forward end thereof so asto be arranged along a front edge of the header frame;

a draper assembly for carrying the crop when cut to a discharge openingof the header;

the draper assembly including first and second side drapers each on arespective side of the discharge opening with an outer guide roller atan opposite end of the header frame, an inner guide roller adjacent thedischarge opening, and a draper canvas wrapped around the outer andinner guide rollers to define a top run of the respective side draper soas to carry the cut crop across the header to a discharge end adjacentthe discharge opening;

a feed roller member mounted at the discharge opening and arranged to bedriven in rotation in a direction to carry crop underneath the feedroller member through the discharge opening into the feed input openingof the harvesting machine;

a header power input coupling rotatable about an axis in said planeparallel to the forward direction for receiving power from the headerdrive coupling of the harvesting machine and for driving from the powerat least the feed roller member and the draper assembly;

and a drive system including a gear box connected to the input couplingand providing an output shaft for driving at least the feed rollermember where the output shaft extends transversely to the forwarddirection.

The term feed roller member includes any generally cylindrical memberwhich may or may not include a cylindrical wall and will typicallyinclude auger flights on part or all of the periphery but these are notessential. In some cases fingers may be provided which can beretractable at different angular positions of the roller. That is thespecific construction of the rotatable member forming the roller membercan vary but in general the member forms some form of outer peripheralconstruction which engages the crop to carry it underneath the axis ofrotation of the member.

As set forth above, the output shaft drives at least the feed rollermember but also typically will drive some or all of the remainingcomponents of the header including the cutter bar and the drapers. Thatis preferably the output shaft also drives a hydraulic pump for at leastdriving the cutter and the drapers.

Preferably the drive system comprises a right angle gearbox.

Preferably the right angle gearbox is mounted at least partially withinan imaginary downward projection of the feed roller.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a cropharvesting header for attachment to a self-propelled harvesting machine;

the header being arranged for cutting and transporting a standing cropand comprising:

a header frame;

an elongate cutter connected to the frame at a forward end thereof so asto be arranged along a front edge of the header frame;

a draper assembly for carrying the crop when cut to a discharge openingof the header;

the draper assembly including first and second side drapers each on arespective side of the discharge opening with an outer guide roller atan opposite end of the header frame, an inner guide roller adjacent thedischarge opening, and a draper canvas wrapped around the outer andinner guide rollers to define a top run of the respective side draper soas to carry the cut crop across the header to a discharge end adjacentthe discharge opening;

a feed roller member mounted at the discharge opening and arranged to bedriven in rotation in a direction to carry crop underneath the feedroller member through the discharge opening into the feed input openingof the harvesting machine;

wherein the feed roller is mounted at each end on supports allowingindependent up and down floating movement of the ends of the feed rollermember;

an output drive shaft for providing drive at least to the feed rollermember of the harvesting machine

and a mechanical linkage between the output shaft and an input driveshaft connected to one end of the feed roller member;

and wherein there is provided a universal coupling between the inputdrive shaft and said one end of the feed roller member to allow raisingand lowering of said end relative to the other end.

Preferably the universal coupling is located within an end portion ofthe roller.

Preferably the universal coupling is connected to a transverse platewithin the roller.

In a preferred arrangement, the adapter includes a feed draper includinga front guide roller located rearward of the cutter bar, a rear guideroller behind the front guide roller, and a draper canvas wrapped aroundthe front and rear guide rollers to define a top run of the feed draperfor receiving the crop material from the discharge ends of the first andsecond side drapers and for carrying the crop material rearwardlytowards the discharge opening. However in other cases the feed drapercan be omitted so that the crop is carried into the discharge opening bythe feed roller.

More specifically the gearbox is preferably positioned behind the rearguide roller of the feed draper and also the gearbox is preferablypositioned rearwardly of the axis of rotation of the feed roller.

Preferably at the rear of the feed draper is provided a crop guidesurface which is located over the gearbox and arranged to direct thecrop to the feed opening where the guide surface is inclined upwardlyand rearwardly from the forward edge just behind the feed draper to arearward edge at the feed opening of the feeder house of the forageharvester.

Preferably the adapter includes a bottom pan underneath the feed draperdefining a bottom plane which extends from the cutter bar along theunderside of the header frame to a position forward of the feeder house.In this arrangement the gearbox is preferably arranged behind the bottompan and above the plane of the pan. In this way the gearbox is locatedin a protected location where it is retracted behind the pan and abovethe position where it can engage the ground.

In accordance with another important preferable feature of the inventionthere is provided a mechanical linkage between the output shaft and aninput drive shaft connected to one end of the feed roller.

Preferably the mechanical linkage comprises an idler shaft parallel tothe output shaft and the input drive shaft, a first chain and sprocketdrive located between the output shaft and the idler shaft and a secondchain and sprocket drive between the idler shaft and the input driveshaft.

This is typically used in arrangement in which the feed roller ismounted at each end on supports allowing up and down floating movementof the feed roller.

In one example the supports can comprise pivot arms for pivotal movementabout a transverse axis longitudinal of the cutter bar. The location ofthe pivot is preferably in front of the roller but can be located atother positions.

Where the mechanical linkage includes the above idler shaft parallel tothe output shaft and the input drive shaft, preferably the pivot armshave a pivot axis coaxial with the idler shaft.

Also it is preferable that each pivot arm is associated with a springacting to bias the feed roller downwardly.

In addition to driving the feed roller, also the output shaft ispreferably connected to a hydraulic pump to provide a hydraulic fluiddrive to the drapers and two other components on the header includingthe knife drive and reel.

According to another important preferred feature of the invention, wherethe feed roller is mounted at each end on supports allowing independentup and down floating movement of the ends of the feed roller and thereis provided a mechanical linkage between the output shaft and an inputdrive shaft connected to one end of the feed roller, preferably there isprovided a universal coupling between the input drive shaft and said oneend of the roller to allow raising and lowering of that end relative tothe other end.

Preferably universal coupling is located within an end portion of theroller and connected to a transverse plate within the roller.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a cropharvesting header crop harvesting header for attachment to aself-propelled forage harvester;

where the forage harvester has a feed input opening at a forward end anda drive shaft at or adjacent the feed opening for transmitting power tothe crop harvesting header, the header drive shaft extending in a planegenerally parallel to a forward travel direction of the forage harvesterand including an output coupling member at a forward end thereof;

the header being arranged for cutting and transporting a standing cropand comprising:

a header frame;

an elongate cutter bar connected to the frame at a forward end thereofso as to be arranged along a front edge of the header frame;

a draper assembly for carrying the crop when cut to a discharge openingof the header;

the draper assembly including first and second side drapers each on arespective side of the discharge opening with an outer guide roller atan opposite end of the header frame, an inner guide roller adjacent thedischarge opening, and a draper canvas wrapped around the outer andinner guide rollers to define a top run of the respective side draper soas to carry the cut crop across the header to a discharge end adjacentthe discharge opening;

an adapter comprising:

an adapter frame arranged for attaching to the forage harvester at thefeed opening and to the header frame so that the header frame issupported by the forage harvester;

a feed roller mounted at the discharge opening and arranged to be drivenin rotation in a direction to carry crop underneath the feed rollerthrough the discharge opening into the feed input opening of the forageharvester;

a header power input coupling rotatable about an axis in said planeparallel to the forward direction for receiving power from the headerdrive coupling of the forage harvester and for driving from the powerthe feed roller and the draper assembly;

and a right angle gearbox at the header power input coupling includingan output shaft rotating about an axis at right angles to the forwarddirection and longitudinally of the cutter bar;

wherein there is provided a mechanical linkage between the output shaftand an input drive shaft connected to one end of the feed roller.

Preferably the mechanical linkage comprises an idler shaft parallel tothe output shaft and the input drive shaft, a first chain and sprocketdrive located between the output shaft and the idler shaft and a secondchain and sprocket drive between the idler shaft and the input driveshaft.

Preferably the feed roller is mounted at each end on supports allowingup and down floating movement of the feed roller.

Preferably the supports comprise pivot arms for pivotal movement about atransverse axis longitudinal of the cutter bar.

Preferably there is provided an idler shaft parallel to the output shaftand the input drive shaft, a first chain and sprocket drive locatedbetween the output shaft and the idler shaft and a second chain andsprocket drive between the idler shaft and the input drive shaft andwherein the pivot arms have a pivot axis coaxial with the idler shaft.

Preferably each pivot arm is associated with a spring acting to bias thefeed roller downwardly.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a cropharvesting header crop harvesting header for attachment to aself-propelled forage harvester;

where the forage harvester has a feed input opening at a forward end anda drive shaft at or adjacent the feed opening for transmitting power tothe crop harvesting header, the header drive shaft extending in a planegenerally parallel to a forward travel direction of the forage harvesterand including an output coupling member at a forward end thereof;

the header being arranged for cutting and transporting a standing cropand comprising:

a header frame;

an elongate cutter bar connected to the frame at a forward end thereofso as to be arranged along a front edge of the header frame;

a draper assembly for carrying the crop when cut to a discharge openingof the header;

the draper assembly including first and second side drapers each on arespective side of the discharge opening with an outer guide roller atan opposite end of the header frame, an inner guide roller adjacent thedischarge opening, and a draper canvas wrapped around the outer andinner guide rollers to define a top run of the respective side draper soas to carry the cut crop across the header to a discharge end adjacentthe discharge opening;

an adapter comprising:

an adapter frame arranged for attaching to the forage harvester at thefeed opening and to the header frame so that the header frame issupported by the forage harvester;

a feed roller mounted at the discharge opening and arranged to be drivenin rotation in a direction to carry crop underneath the feed rollerthrough the discharge opening into the feed input opening of the forageharvester;

a header power input coupling rotatable about an axis in said planeparallel to the forward direction for receiving power from the headerdrive coupling of the forage harvester and for driving from the powerthe feed roller and the draper assembly;

and a right angle gearbox at the header power input coupling includingan output shaft rotating about an axis at right angles to the forwarddirection and longitudinally of the cutter bar;

wherein the feed roller is mounted at each end on supports allowingindependent up and down floating movement of the ends of the feedroller;

wherein there is provided a mechanical linkage between the output shaftand an input drive shaft connected to one end of the feed roller;

and wherein there is provided a universal coupling between the inputdrive shaft and said one end of the roller to allow raising and loweringof said end relative to the other end.

Preferably universal coupling is located within an end portion of theroller and connected to a transverse plate within the roller.

It is an aspect of the invention to provide a gearbox for a cropharvesting draper header to be used with a self-propelled forageharvester. The self-propelled forage harvester has a header drive fortransmitting power to the header that is configured for connecting in acoupling direction parallel to a forward travel direction of the forageharvester. Thus, the gearbox is arranged to operatively couple an outputcoupling of the forage harvester's header drive and an input coupling ofa header power input for receiving the power from the forage harvesterso that transmission of power from the forage harvester to the header isenabled.

Typically the input coupling of the header power input is configured forcoupling in a longitudinal direction of the header which is transverseto the forward direction of travel of the harvester. As such, thegearbox allows couplings that have incompatible coupling directions tobe operatively connected together.

Thus, arrangement described herein operatively couples the header driveon the forage harvester to the input on the header.

Furthermore, presently known and commercially available designs ofdraper headers provide very little clearance thereunder because theircomponents including the draper are already positioned for optimalperformance and feeding into the feeder house of the harvester.Additionally, it is desirable to position the header as close aspossible to the harvester to reduce the overhung load on the harvestingmachine and so as to reduce need for additional feeding devices to feedcrop rearwardly into the machine if there is too large a gaptherebetween.

Moreover, in such an arrangement, it is desirable that a drive mechanismdriving the rotary feed member accommodates for a difference in speedbetween the main drive input to the header and the rotary member toachieve a proper ratio between intake roll speed (which determineslength of chop) and header speed.

Yet further, it is known that non-uniform amounts of cut crop can passunder the rotary member across its length, which is why the rotarymember is typically arranged to float over a feed pan thereunder. As therotary feed member floats it remains connected to the drive mechanism soas to be driven thereby.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view showing schematically a central sectiononly of a header according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view showing only a portion of the centralsection of the header of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic partial view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 in FIG. 4.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the different figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

There is illustrated in the accompanying figures an adapter 10 for acrop harvesting header 11 that is to be used for example on aself-propelled forage harvester 12. The forage harvester 12 shown onlyschematically includes a feeder house 13 with a forwardly facing openmount 15 at which is located a feed roll system 14 to carry cut cropfrom the harvesting header 11.

Typically self-propelled forage harvesters have a header drive 16 fortransmitting power to the crop harvesting header that is configured forconnecting in a coupling direction C which is parallel to a forwardtravel direction D. In order to make this drive 16 compatible forconnecting to a header power input of the adapter of the header, thereis provided a right angle gearbox 17 providing a perpendicularlytransverse connection therebetween.

Since the present invention is concerned with an arrangement providingtransmission of power from the harvester to the header, certain detailswhich are not pertinent to this topic may be omitted herein as they areotherwise known to a person skilled in the art concerning agriculturalcrop headers and harvesting machines.

The conventional self-propelled forage harvester 1, also termed forager,is well known in the art and generally comprises a frame 2 rollablysupported for movement on the ground by wheels 4, a cab 5 for housing anoperator with controls for operating the forager including steering, andthe feeder house 13 at a forward end of the frame that defines an inletto internal processing elements of the forager (not shown) that convertcut crop fed into the feeder house into forage dischargeable from anoutlet of the forager into a storage vehicle moving with the forageharvester during the foraging process.

The feeder house 13 of the forager 1 may receive at its forward end acrop harvesting header for cutting a standing crop as the forager movesin a forward working direction across the ground supporting the crop.

A conventional draper header 11 includes a header frame 18 comprising amain rear frame member 19 extending longitudinally of the header (whichis a transverse direction relative to the forward travel direction ofthe forage harvester) with a plurality of forwardly extending beams 20each supported by the main rear frame member 19. An elongate cutter bar21 is connected to a forward end 22 of the beams so as to be arrangedalong a front edge of the header frame 18.

An adapter 10 is provided to connect the draper header, such as thattypically used on a combine harvester, on the forage harvester. Theadapter 10 of the illustrated embodiment thus comprises a frame 24 whichis attachable at a rear side 25 thereof to the feeder house 13 at itsforward end and at an opposite front side 26 to the crop header 11 at acentral discharge location 27 to which a side draper 28, 29 (FIG. 6) oneither side thereof carries cut crop.

The side drapers 28 and 29 form a draper assembly which is mounted onthe header frame 20 rearwardly of the cutter bar 21 such that crop cutby the cutter bar falls onto the draper assembly for transportationlongitudinally of the header to the central discharge location 58 forcommunication with a feed opening 8 defined by the feeder house 13 ofthe forage harvester. Each side draper 28, 29 includes an outer guideroller adjacent an outer end of the header frame, so that the outerguide rollers of the side drapers are at opposite ends of the headerframe 20, and an inner guide roller adjacent the discharge location 27with a flexible loop of material wrapped about the pair of co-actingguide rollers so as to define a top run of the respective side draper onwhich the cut crop is carried across the header to a discharge end ofthe respective side draper adjacent the central discharge location 27.The top run of the respective side draper is supported for example by aconventional skid plate (not shown) mounted on the header frame so as toprevent sagging under weight of the cut crop.

Further details of the crop draper header are not described (norillustrated) herein as they will be apparent to a person skilled in theart.

The adapter 10 further includes a feed draper 30 which cooperates withthe side drapers 28, 29 of the header 11 to deliver the cut crop to theforage harvester. The feed draper 30 is located with a front rolleradjacent the cutter bar 21 and a rear roller adjacent the dischargeopening 27 so as to carry the cut crop from the side drapers to thedischarge opening. Thus the feed draper includes a front guide roller 31located rearwardly of the cutter bar 21, a rear guide roller 32 inspaced relation behind the front guide roller, and a flexible loop ofmaterial 33 substantially the same as that used on the side drapers thatis wrapped around the front and rear guide rollers to define a top runof the feed draper for receiving the crop material from the dischargeends of the first and second side drapers 28, 29 and for carrying thecrop material rearwardly towards the feed opening 27 of the forageharvester. The feed draper canvas 33 typically includes slats 34arranged to form a V-shape across a width of the feed draper from thedischarge end of one side draper to the other, as is conventional infeed drapers.

To assist with transfer of the cut crop material to the forager feederhouse 13 is provided a feed roller 35 which is mounted rearwardly of thefront guide roller 31 of the feed draper. The feed roller 35 includes apair of helical flight portions 36 wrapping around a tube 37 having anaxis A of the roller with the flight portions being located at the endsonly of the roller and wrapped in opposite directions so that the feedroller mounted for rotation in a clockwise direction C around the axis Atends to bring the cut crop centrally of the feeder house opening 27.Each of the helical flights 36 may be reinforced with gusset plates 38coupled between same and the tube 37 of the feed roller. Extendingunderneath the feed roller 35 rearwardly towards the feed opening 27 isa feed pan 39 across which the cut crop is conveyed on its path to thefeeder house opening 15. It will be appreciated that the feed roller 35is arranged to float at various heights over the feed pan 39 so as toaccommodate different amounts of cut crop passing thereunder, as well asto float upwardly at each end independently so as to assume non-uniformheight across the adapter when a distribution of the cut crop passingunder the feed roller is non-uniform.

The feed roller 35 is supported in rotation by a pair of support arms 40each at a respective end each extending forwardly from a mountinglocation 41 on the adapter frame spaced above and rearwardly of the rearguide roller 32 of the feed draper and rearwardly of the axis A of thefeed roller. These support arms 40 are pivotal about a pivot axis Plocated at the mounting location and oriented across the adapter, so asto be parallel to rotation axis A of the feed roller. Thus by pivotingof the support arm the feed roller is allowed to float at a height overthe feed pan based on the thickness of the cut crop passing under theroller. Each pivot arm 40 is associated with a spring 40A acting to biasthe feed roller downwardly or to float the roller.

In order to drive the feed roller 35 and the feed draper 30 of theadapter, and the cutter bar and draper assembly of the header, there isprovided at the header power input for receiving the power from theheader drive 16 of the forage harvester the gearbox 17 for operativelycoupling to an output coupling 16A of the forager's header drive 16 at aright angle so as to transmit power from the forager to drive suchperipheral components as, for example, on the adapter and the header.

The gearbox 17 comprises a conventional right angle gear box so that theinput coupling and the output shaft 17B can be linked at a 90 degreeangle by interconnecting bevel gears 17C and 17D. This gearbox has aninput shaft 17E which is positioned in line with the output coupling 16Aof the drive 16.

The gearbox 17 is positioned rearwardly of the feed draper 30 andrearwardly of the mounting location/pivot axis P of the support arms 40,beneath the feed roller 35 and the feed pan 39, and no further forwardlythan the rotation axis A of the feed roller so that the header 11 can belocated in close relation to the forager. Furthermore, and morespecifically, the gearbox 130 is positioned lower than the rear guideroller 32 of the feed draper. With such a placement of the gearbox,clearances between each pairing of the feed draper and feed roller, andthe feed roller and intake conditioning rollers 13 of the forager in thefeeder house 7, can be optimized for proper material transfer within thepairing. In the illustrated embodiment the gearbox 130 is located at oneend of the feed roller 35, in this specific case a left end.

For driving the feed roller 35 there is provided on the gearbox 17 theoutput shaft 17B extending that is operatively coupled to the feedroller 35 via two drive stages 42, 43 so that this drive system canaccommodate floating of the feed roller wherein the rotation axis A ofthe feed roller is not fixed in location nor in relation to the gearbox.The output shaft 17B extends from the gearbox towards the outer end ofthe header 11. The output shaft 17B supports a sprocket 17A about whichan endless chain 44 is wrapped and extends to a larger sprocket 45supported on an intermediary shaft 46 mounted forwardly of the outputshaft 17B at the mounting location of the supports arms 40 for rotationabout a longitudinal axis P. The intermediary shaft 46 extends beyondthe pivotal support arm located generally at that common end of the feedroller where the gearbox 17 is located. In the illustrated embodimentthe longitudinal rotation axis of the intermediary shaft 46 is coaxialwith the pivot axis P of the support arms which are pivotal such thatthe intermediate shaft 46 is also above the output shaft 17B. This formsa first one 42 of the drive stages for driving the feed roller 117. Aguide sprocket 47 is provided at a bottom run of the loop intermediatethe end sprockets 17A, 45 so as to guide and tension the endless chainin a path.

A second one 43 of the drive stages is formed by a second sprocket 48supported on the intermediary shaft 46 and connected by an endless chain49 to a sprocket 50 located rearwardly of the intermediary shaft 46 andconnected to the feed roller 35. The second sprocket 48 on theintermediary shaft 46 is located thereon to one side of the firstintermediary sprocket 45 in a direction towards center of the header,such that the second intermediary sprocket 48 is closer to the pivotalsupport arm 40 nearest the first drive stage. A guide sprocket 47A isprovided intermediate the roller sprocket 50 and the second intermediarysprocket 48 at a top run of the loop so as to guide the endless chain 49in a path in which it is maintained wrapped around these two sprockets48, 50 as the pivotal support arm moves wherein the roller rotation axisA changes location relative to the intermediary shaft 46. Thus thesecond drive stage 43 is carried alongside the pivotal support arm andis adapted to move therewith in pivotal movement of the support arm.This saves axial space in the longitudinal direction of the adapter.

The first drive stage 42 is configured to change rotational speed of theoutput shaft of the gearbox to a prescribed speed for the rotation ofthe feed roller.

Where the feed roller is driven there is provided a universal joint 52carried on the shaft 51 of the sprocket 50 allowing the axis of rotationA of the feed roller 117 to be inclined relative to the axis of theshaft 51 such that the floating height of the feed roller is non-uniformacross the feed pan 39. The universal joint 52 is located adjacent thatend of the feed roller where it is mechanically driven via the gearbox17, that is adjacent the left-hand pivotal support arm carrying thesecond drive stage, and such that the universal joint and the gearboxare located closer to a common end of the feed roller than to the other.This allows the feed roller to be driven while being biased in aposition against the cut crop passing underneath it when, in someinstances, an amount of the cut crop across the central dischargelocation can be non-uniform causing one end of the feed roller to beraised relative to the other end.

The universal joint 52 is of a conventional commercially availableconstruction with a first member 52A attached in fixed relation to theshaft 51 supporting the roller sprocket 50 and a second member of theuniversal joint connected to a plate 54 attached across the inside ofthe tube 37.

Thus the universal joint 52 is located intermediate opposite ends 35Aand 35B of the feed roller, and that one of the helical flights 36generally on the common end of the feed roller as the universal jointwraps about the axis A of the feed roller.

Thus the right angle gearbox 17 is mounted at least partly underneaththe discharge opening 27 and underneath the feed roller 35. The gearbox17 is positioned behind the rear guide roller 32 of the feed draper 30.The gearbox is positioned rearwardly of the axis A of rotation of thefeed roller 35. The pan 39 defines a crop guide surface which is locatedover the gearbox 17 and arranged to direct the crop to the feed opening.The guide surface defined by the pan 39 is inclined upwardly andrearwardly. A front edge 39A of the pan 39 cooperates with a rear edgeof a bottom pan 39B defining a bottom plane and wherein the gearbox isarranged behind the bottom pan 39B of the adapter underneath the feeddraper 30. As shown in FIG. 1, the bottom pan 39B extends from aposition at the cutter bar rearwardly and defines a bottom plane of theadapter. The bottom of the gear box 17 is located at or adjacent theplane of the pane 39B.

The mechanical linkage defined by the drive trains 42 and 43 comprisesthe idler shaft 46 parallel to the output shaft 17B and the input driveshaft 51 to the roller. The first chain and sprocket drive 42 is locatedbetween the output shaft 17B and the idler shaft 46 and the second chainand sprocket drive 43 is located between the idler shaft 46 and theinput drive shaft 51.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6, the output shaft 17B is connected to ahydraulic pump 60 at the end of the shaft opposite the sprocket 17A toprovide a hydraulic fluid drive to the drapers.

The universal joint 52 between the input drive shaft and 51 the adjacentend of the roller 35 acts to allow raising and lowering of that endrelative to the other end. The universal joint 52 is located within anend portion 37A of the tube 37 of the roller 35 and is connected to atransverse plate 37B within the tube 37 of the roller.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein abovedescribed, and many apparently widely different embodiments of samemade, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanyingspecification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in alimiting sense.

1. A combination of a self-propelled harvesting machine and a harvestingheader attached thereto, the combination comprising: a self-propelledharvesting machine having a feed opening at a forward end and a driveshaft at or adjacent the feed opening; the self-propelled harvestingmachine being mounted on ground wheels moving the self-propelledharvesting machine in a forward travel direction during harvesting; anda harvesting header comprising: a header frame mounted on theself-propelled harvesting machine during harvesting and which isseparable from the self-propelled harvesting machine; a dischargeopening in the header frame which discharges into the feed opening ofthe self-propelled harvesting machine; a crop cutting device mounted onan elongate cutter bar connected to the header frame along a front edgeof the header frame; a draper assembly carrying the crop to thedischarge opening; the draper assembly including first and second sidedrapers each on a respective side of the discharge opening with an outerguide roller at an opposite end of the header frame, an inner guideroller adjacent the discharge opening, and a draper canvas wrappedaround the outer and inner guide rollers to define a top run of therespective side draper so as to carry the cut crop across the header toa discharge end adjacent the discharge opening; a feed roller membermounted at the discharge opening driven in rotation in a direction tocarry crop underneath the feed roller member through the dischargeopening into the feed opening; and a drive transfer member receivingpower from an output shaft of the self-propelled harvesting machine anddriving at least the feed roller member; wherein the feed roller memberis mounted at first and second ends thereof on first and second supportsallowing independent up and down floating movement of the first andsecond ends of the feed roller member; wherein the drive transfer membercomprises an input drive shaft connected to said first end of the feedroller member; and wherein there is provided a universal couplingbetween the input drive shaft and said first end of the roller to allowraising and lowering of said first end relative to the second end. 2.The combination according to claim 1 wherein the first and secondsupports comprise first and second pivot arms for pivotal movement abouta transverse axis parallel to the cutter bar.
 3. The combinationaccording to claim 2 wherein the drive transfer member comprises aheader drive shaft generally parallel to the cutter bar and an idlershaft generally parallel to the header drive shaft and the input driveshaft, a first chain and sprocket drive located between the output shaftand the idler shaft and a second chain and sprocket drive between theidler shaft and the input drive shaft and wherein the first and secondpivot arms have a pivot axis coaxial with the idler shaft.
 4. Thecombination according to claim 1 wherein the universal coupling islocated within an end portion of the feed roller member and connected toa transverse plate within the feed roller member.
 5. The combinationaccording to claim 1 wherein the drive transfer member comprises agearbox driven from said output shaft of the self-propelled harvestingmachine and having an output drive shaft of the gear box generallyparallel to the cutter bar.
 6. The combination according to claim 5wherein the gearbox is mounted at least partially within an imaginarydownward projection of the feed roller member.
 7. The combinationaccording to claim 5 wherein the output drive shaft of the gear box alsodrives a hydraulic pump for at least driving the cutter and the drapers.8. The combination according to claim 1 including a feed draper having afront guide roller located rearward of the cutter bar, a rear guideroller behind the front guide roller, and a draper canvas wrapped aroundthe front and rear guide rollers to define a top run of the feed drapercarrying the crop material rearwardly towards the discharge opening. 9.The combination according to claim 5 including a feed draper having afront guide roller located rearward of the cutter bar, a rear guideroller behind the front guide roller, and a draper canvas wrapped aroundthe front and rear guide rollers to define a top run of the feed drapercarrying the crop material rearwardly towards the discharge opening,wherein the gearbox is positioned behind the rear guide roller of thefeed draper.